The technology business climate is showing signs of stabilizing, according to IT industry trade group CompTIA.
Customer interest in cybersecurity, cloud computing and other areas could be an indicator of a business environment that is stabilizing in the wake of COVID-19, as 84% of tech firms are receiving new customer inquiries, which is up from 76% in March.
That’s also a slight improvement from April, when 83% of tech firms said they were receiving new business opportunities.
Cybersecurity tops that list, with 42% of tech firms surveyed indicating customers are inquiring about securing their networks. Next, customers are most interested in cloud computing (42%), managed and outsourced IT services (40%) and consulting on how to go virtual (40%).
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CompTIA’s survey also indicated that companies are slowing down their hiring changes after a few months of hiring freezes, layoffs and other reductions.
“Companies also reported taking positive steps in training employees in technical areas such as cybersecurity, networking, programming and tech support, as well as in ‘soft skill’ areas like communications and customer service,” said Amy Carrado, senior director for research and market intelligence at CompTIA.
“Taking advantage of any downtime in business activity to upskill employees is likely to pay off for these firms as customer engagements increase.”
The survey, conducted earlier this month, found that the majority of tech executives (52%) were feeling optimistic, while 42% are “hanging in there” and 6% reported to be in a difficult situation.
The survey also found that 94% of companies belief their business will change for the long term, with 65% citing more remote work opportunities. Other changes include more social and digital marketing (48%) and reducing business travel (47%).
Companies said they are prioritizing virtual meetings, alternating in-office/remote workers, restructuring information protection agreements to allow for remote work, leveraging more cloud solutions, payment holidays and leveraging government support.
